“The word ‘And’ never felt so long,” New champ Dricus Du Plessis and famed MMA coach tells hilarious story about ‘annoying’ aspect of Bruce Buffers announcement

New UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis talks about his anxiety during the decision announcement at UFC 297.

“The word ‘And’ never felt so long,” New champ Dricus Du Plessis and famed MMA coach tells hilarious story about ‘annoying’ aspect of Bruce Buffers announcement

Dricus Du Plessis and Ray Longo on UFC announcements ( Image via Imago/X )

Dricus Du Plessis became champion at his most recent fight against Sean Strickland at UFC 297. It was a controversial split decision victory and Du Plessis recently revealed how it felt waiting for the decision in the octagon. Here is what happened:

Dricus Du Plessis recently gave an exclusive interview on the Anik & Florian Podcast where he talked about the announcement of the decision at his recent UFC 297 bout. Dricus Du Plessis said: 

And I had in my mind I really honestly thought that I won the fight. Directly after the bout I went to my coach and my brother and I went 'We got it'. And they both said 'Yes, I think we got it' because I had it that we got this fight. And when they started announcing the decision, the word 'and' has never felt so long".
Dricus Du Plessis via Anik & Florian Podcast
YouTube video

Dricus Du Plessis faced off against Sean Strickland at UFC 297. They fought at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Two judges scored the fight 48-47 in favour of Du Plessis while the third scored it 47-48, in favour of Sean Strickland. Thus, Dricus Du Plessis walked away with a split-decision victory and became the new UFC middleweight champion.

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It was a close fight. Many thought that Sean won the fight. UFC CEO Dana White said he scored Sean Strickland winning the bout over Dricus du Plessis. He said that he thought Strickland won the last round. Sean Strickland accused Du Plessis of an illegal headbutt and demanded an immediate rematch. However, Dana White said the UFC is not planning an immediate rematch between the two fighters.

Ray Longo relates with Dricus Du Plessis about UFC announcements

Ray Longo is a respected UFC trainer, who has mentored fighters like Chris Weidman and Aljamain Sterling. He was also present along with Jon Anik and Kenny Florian during Dricus Du Plessis’ exclusive interview at the Anik & Florian Podcast. There, he related with Du Plessis about the anxiety-building announcements at UFC events. He narrated his story about how when Matt Serra fought Matt Hughes he thought Serra won the fight because both were named Matt.

Matt Serra Ray Longo
Matt Serra and Ray Longo (Image Courtesy – MMA Fighting)

This happened back in May 2009. Matt Hughes defeated Matt Serra by unanimous decision at UFC 98. The fight took place in Paradise, Nevada, and was originally scheduled for December 2007. However, it was canceled after Serra injured his back.

The fight saw an early head-butt and an illegal blow to the back of the head from Serra. He also reversed a takedown on Hughes in the third round and almost got him with a kimura, but ran out of time. Hughes eventually dominated the wrestling and won the fight by a close decision.

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